JVP BOSTON FILM LIBRARY Borrow Films for Free! Films can be a powerful way to engage people in learning, reflection, and action. We invite you to make use of this collection and spread the word. These films are licensed for small group showings only. Please read the fine print at the end. Documentaries 1913: Seeds of Conflict 1 hour 2015 It examines a critical yet overlooked moment of transformation in Palestine, long before the Balfour Declaration and British Mandate period, usually considered the matchstick for today's ongoing struggles. http://1913seedsofconflict.com Al Helm (The Dream): MLK in Palestine 93 min. 2013 “We went to the Holy Land with Dr. Clay Carson, who runs the Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute, to film his play about King performed by the Palestinian National Theatre and an African- American gospel choir which was presented to audiences all over the West Bank. It was an intense cultural exchange between two peoples encompassing the joy of new friendships, creative collaborations and eye opening experiences.” http://www.clarityfilms.org/mlk/ Arna’s Children 1½ hours 2004 Juliano Mer Khamis' film on the evolution of a theatre group for children from the Jenin refugee camp which was founded by his mother, Arna. http://electronicintifada.net/content/review- arnas-children/3456 Bethlehem to Brooklyn: Breaking the Surface 45 min. 2009 The film spotlights the world as experienced by Latino and African Americans and Palestinian teenagers struggling with the circumstances in their daily lives. Through a writing program— one in an alternative NYC school and one in Aida Camp--the resilience and passion of the young people comes alive. http://www.frantarrpro.com/bethlehem-to-brooklyn/ Breaking the Silence: Israeli Soldiers Talk about Hebron 38 min. 2005 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3urtwE6B3qo (Good film; the title says it all.) NOTE: We also have a copy in Hebrew. Bunda'im 48 min. 2011 In south Tel-Aviv there was, and still is, a place where Yiddish and Socialism are still spoken. The filmmaker writes, “I felt privileged to meet the last comrades of a mass movement that was exterminated in Europe, ignored in Israel, but whose ideas live on.” Censored Voices 87 minutes 2015 One week after the 1967 'Six-Day War', a group of young kibbutzniks, led by renowned author Amos Oz and Editor Avraham Shapira, recorded intimate conversations with returning soldiers, 70% of which were censored by the Israeli army. The film reveals the original recordings for the first time as some of the men, now in their seventies, listen to their younger selves and relive their experience of war. Includes rare newsreel footage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh0Z1VfYPcE Checkpoint 1 hour 20 min. 2003 The film shows the everyday interaction between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians at several of the region’s Israel Defense Forces checkpoints. Checkpoint is shot in cinéma vérité style with no narration and very little context. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/checkpoint/ Children of Gaza Approx. an hour 2011 This film follows the lives of 4 children immediately after January, 2009 when more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed in Gaza. Through the eyes and words of young children, the film gives a unique and heartbreaking insight into the impact of war on young people. http://childrenofgazafund.org/index.php/thefilm/ **Death in Gaza 1 hour 20 min. 2004 The filmmakers chronicle the lives of three Palestinian adolescents growing up in war-torn Gaza. (A powerful--and surprising--ending. Difficult to watch at the very beginning, but excellent.) http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/death-in-gaza/ Defamation I ½ hours 2008 Examines contemporary anti-Semitism and the possibility of a modern-day Jewish holocaust. (Will spark discussion.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJo7LhSPJaY Dreams Deferred: The Struggle for Peace and Justice in Israel/Palestine 68 minutes 2011 The film lifts up many different voices—including those from familiar organizations—describing the Occupation, refusal to serve in the military, Zionism, anti-Semitism, curfew, abuse and violence. (A great overview.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRSa-u-mjRM **Encounter Point 1¼ hours 2006 Family members of slain Palestinians and Israelis share their stories and how they've turned their grief into a force for change. (Good “starter” film.) http://www.justvision.org/encounterpoint Eyewitness Gaza 50 min. 2011 Shows current life in Gaza through the lens of Cambridge, MA photographer and Quaker activist Skip Schiel. (Useful focal point for discussion about the responsibility of U.S. taxpayers.) http://eyewitnessgaza.net Five Broken Cameras 1 ½ hours 2012 An extraordinary work of both cinematic and political activism, 5 Broken Cameras is a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil'in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. (Review from Rotten Tomatoes) http://www.kinolorber.com/5brokencameras/ Flying Paper 71 min. 2013 An uplifting story of Palestinian youth from Gaza on a quest to shatter the Guinness World Record for the most kites flown at once. You are invited inside the culture of kite making and flying as a form of resistance. Co-produced with young filmmakers in Gaza. http://www.flyingpaper.org Forget Baghdad I hour and 52 min. 2002 The film tells the forgotten story of four Baghdadi-Jews, all former members of the Iraqi communist party who were forced to emigrate at Israel’s founding. Jews in Baghdad and Arabs in Israel, the divided identities and confusion of these four men's lives tell a much larger tale of global, political and cultural disorder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_0Ib5TQuNU The Gatekeepers 101 minutes 2012 The story of the Israeli internal security service, Shin Bet, is told from the perspective of six of its former heads. It shows the role that they played in Israelis’ security from the Six-Day War to the present. http://www.sonyclassics.com/thegatekeepers/ ____________ Gaza Community Media Center Three short films from the Gaza Community Media Centre document the personal impact of Israeli war crimes during the 51-day assault in July 2014. It may be possible to Skype with people from the Center. Memory of Homes conveys the devastation and psychological dislocation of losing a physical place and its beloved inhabitants -- suddenly and without cause. The White Flag documents how frail the "humanitarian laws of war" are in the face of the US-funded Israeli war machine, how routinely and brutally they are flouted. Al Wafaa, in the quietest and gentlest of voices, describes the shelling of a hospital dedicated to the care of paralyzed patients. Each film is under 30 minutes. Each is hard to watch, but the urgency of the narrators to engage us is so strong, we cannot look away. ___________ Holy Land: A Year in the West Bank 56 min/ 80 min 2014 The film focuses on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. It follows the lives of three Palestinians and three Israelis over a year, showing their relationship to the land and their beliefs about justice and the future. http://holylandfilm.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVGeu4XI4Xc Inner Tour 98 min. 2002 Inner Tour was made just months before the second Intifada began in 2000; it chronicles a three-day bus tour of Israel by West Bank Palestinians. …it shows “an extremely charged journey of deep emotional distances and contradicting realities as the travelers interact with ordinary Israelis and visit places that they feel simultaneously rooted to and alienated from.” http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9507E4DB143AF932A35757C0A9649C8B63 The Iron Wall 52 min. 2006 Explains how the land was taken and and how the settlements work. Interview with Jeff Halper of ICAHD, among others. (Great overview and history.) http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the- iron-wall/ Israel vs. Israel 58 min. 2011 A film about Israeli peace activists: a rabbi, a soldier, a grandmother and an anarchist who work to end the Israeli Occupation. (Shows the complexity of responses by Israelis.) http://www.israelvsisrael.com Israel & Palestine: A very short animated intro 6 ½ min. 2012 Jewish Voice for Peace’s introduction to Israel/Palestine; it provides historical context for understanding the violence happening right now. https://www.facebook.com/JewishVoiceforPeace/videos/10154250238759992/ Jerusalem: An East Side Story 55 min. 2008 “Squeezes nearly one hundred years of history into an hour or so of cinema…exposes the past forty years of Israeli military occupation policies in Jerusalem and their devastating impact on the city and its peoples.” The Electronic Intifada http://electronicintifada.net/content/film-review-jerusalem-east-side-story/3528 The Law in these Parts 101 min. 2011 Explores the over four-decade old military system in the Occupied Territories through testimonies of military legal professionals who were the Occupation’s architects and who helped run it in its formative years. (Best for audiences who have background knowledge of the Occupation.) http://www.thelawfilm.com/eng#!/the-film Life in Occupied Palestine: Eyewitness Stories and Photos 59 min. 2008 An introduction to the plight of Palestinians by eyewitness Anna Baltzer, staff at End the Occupation and the granddaughter of Holocaust refugees. (Fantastic film: Good overview, well- organized, intimate in feeling, as if you are having a conversation with the filmmaker.) http://www.annainthemiddleeast.com/dvd/about/index.html Little Town of Bethlehem 1¼ hours 2010 A story of three men in a land gripped by fear, hatred, and division; expected to be enemies, they work together to end the cycle of violence. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XB3WN5ZCCg Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority 1 ½ hrs 2007 Details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the obstacles in the way of a lasting and viable peace.